The late 1970s UK TV drama 'Spearhead' tried to show what life in the British Army was like at the time. Despite being prime-time viewing, and achieving enough viewers to produce a second series, unfortunately it is little known today.
Similar in some ways to the later series 'Soldier, Soldier', 'Spearhead' shows what life is like for the soldiers of the (fictional) B Company, the Royal Wessex Rangers, and their families.
The programme has an almost documentary-like style; series writer Nick McCarty had visited the Army in Northern Ireland to research the programme, and was determined to 'tell it like it is', including an Army Adviser as part of the production team.
At the start of the series, lead character Sergeant 'Jacko' Jackson (Michael Billington) is commanding a section of the recce platoon attached to B Company, during a tour of Northern Ireland. Jackson is picked to be a platoon commander when the Rangers return to the U.K. As he is only a Colour Sergeant and not an officer, he lives under the threat of being replaced by his superiors at any time. Not a comfortable situation for a man as ambitious as Jackson. He is tough, a good soldier, and respected by his Platoon, but could be criticised for being too serious.
Mike says, " I had misgivings about taking the role of 'Jacko' Jackson in Spearhead. It was a new venture for Southern Television. Southern were told by the Independent Television Authority that they should do some meaningful programming. What could be more meaningful to the rich south than to do a programme promoting the Army as a career? ...
But it still nagged at me that we maybe tried to be an army promotional video." (1)
But does this show promote the Army ? The rigid class divisions in the Army of the time - they might or might not have changed since then - are very obvious; you can tell what rank someone is from their accent. The 'glass ceiling' for even the most able soldiers of working-class origin, like Jackson, is definitely there, and a constant and frustrating barrier to Jackson's achieving his ambition of becoming an officer.
Early episodes of the series show the Army in an even less favourable light; two episodes deal with a petty thief who has a gambling habit, and another deals with an enlisted man going AWOL, and Jackson gets him back. Particularly controversial is the episode set in Northern Ireland, where some soldiers are portrayed as advocating a more aggressive campaign against all hostile civilians (including women and children).
Mike says of 'Spearhead', "I always felt that at some time in the future it might be considered to be a 'brave' little show which dealt with something that needed to be told without bias." (2) I think the series does this, which makes its failure to remain in the long-term memory of the TV-viewing public all the more regrettable.
The series was continued a year later without his character, Jackson. He had moved on. "Although I liked doing the show I wanted green pastures. America beckoned." (3) But as an unusually honest programme about British Army life and 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland in the 70s, 'Spearhead' was a worthwhile achievement for British TV.
(1, 2, 3) - In e-mail correspondence with the author.
